Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell Group gave an overview of its likely divestment profits and exceptional charges for 2003 today, and repeated it expected the two to largely cancel each other out.
"For the full year, total gains from asset sales will be just over $2 billion sterling. The total unusual, non-recurring items that we will include for the full year is also just over $2 billion," a Shell spokesman told reporters.
Total charges should be around $100 million higher than proceeds, he said.
Shell said in a statement divestments in 2003 would top $4 billion of cash, well ahead of its initial forecast of around $2 billion and producing over $2 billion of profit after tax.
The forecast $2 billion-plus of full-year charges will include $1.02 billion from Shell's fourth quarter, up from a previously announced $200 million for the closure of its Bakersfield refinery in California.
The additional $820 million fourth-quarter charges announced on Monday "is a combination of quite a significant number of items," the spokesman said.
It is made up of around $100 million for exploration and production, $200 million for oil products, $450 million for chemicals and $70 million in other sectors.